At long last we have good and reliable evidence available to support the growing view of many that the HIP is beginning to deliver. More importantly the evidence is truly independent. No spin, no vested interest, and strictly consumer based. The consumer’s voice is of much importance given the current debate on whether the HIP should be retained by the Conservatives.
The evidence comes in the form of an IPSOS MORI poll and the results are very telling:
• Six out of seven of those surveyed (85%) say that the need to obtain a HIP did not influence their decision about whether or not to sell their home. The 15% that said it influenced their decision whether or not to sell put their home on the market anyway. This is pretty convincing evidence that Hips do not affect listings.
• 60% said the information provided by the seller in the Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) is useful to buyers, with nearly three quarters (73%) saying it took less than 20 minutes to complete and 75% finding it easy to complete.
• A majority (57%) agree that home buyers should be provided with more upfront information about the condition of the property that they are buying.
• Only a minority (30%) disagreed that providing home buyers with more information about a property before making an offer would improve the buying and selling process.
• Around four out of five (82%) agree that the process of buying and selling properties takes too long. Connells have already shown from a very representative survey that HIPS reduce transaction times by up to 12 days.
These figures show without doubt that HIPs have had and continue to have a positive impact on the home buying and selling process. Grant Shapps, the Shadow Housing Minister, called for evidence and now this is available hopefully he and his Party will immediately review and amend its current policy to ‘scrap’ HIPs
The Conservative Party prides itself as a listening Party. Let us hope it will now listen to the voice of the consumer.
David
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